For the Scholar
by qwertybob
Summary: TRK spoilers. For those who were unsatisfied with the epilogue for Pynch. Adam prepares to go back to school after a weekend at the Barns. [one-shot]


With every pass of Adam's hand through Opal's feathered hair, he'd find another leaf or a branch, or bits of sheep's wool. She had fallen asleep beside him on the couch, but he still ran his fingers through her hair as he flipped through the textbook on his lap with his other hand, not really reading anything.

The Barns was lit with the soft glow of the sun setting on Henrietta, and Adam had to be heading back to school soon. Opal curled into his side, as if reading his thoughts and defying them. She sighed lightly and smiled in her sleep. Adam peered down at her as the couch dipped and sank on Opal's other side.

Ronan, sharp blue eyes and claws running up his neck, scowled at Parrish. Adam returned his gaze with a smile, but when Ronan still would not say what he wanted, Adam relented. "What?"

Ronan was silent for a while as he stared at Adam, and stared at Opal, until Adam frowned too, his hand stilling in Opal's hair. She fidgeted in her sleep, but didn't wake.

"Are you going to keep sitting there doing homework like a nerd, or are you going to come see what I've built outside?"

Adam tried not to smirk, but his mouth mirrored Ronan's without meaning to. "I haven't done homework all weekend." _Because of you._

Ronan shrugged. "And you're going to start now? On Sunday night? Come outside."

Adam glanced down at Opal and Ronan put a finger to his lips as he slowly pushed himself off the couch. Adam watched him, like a sleek jungle cat, barefoot, stalk out of the room and through to the backyard. With a heavy sigh, Adam shut the book on his lap and withdrew himself from Opal's embrace on the couch, throwing a blanket over the sleeping girl's form as he followed Ronan outside.

"What do you think of this?"

Ronan was grinning, arms spread out to the skies like he was about to take flight. Chainsaw was doing just that, flying lazy circles over Ronan's head. He stood in the middle of a giant mud slick with two bright bumper cars on either end, one black like the BMW, and the other a tri-colored piece of shit.

Adam let out a surprised laugh and Ronan's grin grew wider, more sinister—a challenge that said, _Get over here._

Adam took off his shoes and his shirt—the former a gift from Blue, the latter a gift from Gansey, but with Blue's input, otherwise it probably would have been a bright polo—and placed them in a neat pile a long way away from the mud slick. He met Ronan's wandering gaze after it had finished appraising Adam's bare chest. Adam strode into the mud, cursing under his breath as the cold seeped between his toes. Ronan snorted as they sat in their respective cars and stared at each other from across the pit.

The dream magic crackled under Adam's fingers. He let out a delighted laugh as the car intuited his thoughts and raced around the mud as Ronan's did the same. They drove in circles, Ronan's making extravagant tire-squealing turns—somehow, in _mud_ —around the edges with a ferocious grin on his face. Adam could see the light in his blue eyes shining like his dream fireflies as the sun's face disappeared behind the horizon.

Adam, getting dizzy and knowing that Ronan could do this for hours without getting bored, directed his thoughts towards the spinning black car. His tri-color piece of shit swerved, obeying his commands instead of obeying the mud tracks, and he crashed directly into Ronan's ride.

The car flung Adam out of his seat, and the rumpled groan from somewhere to his left told him Ronan had done the same. The mud was freezing against his chest, slimy as he tried to push himself up, and covered half of his face, which he tried to shake off unsuccessfully.

A breathless laugh guided Adam towards Ronan, who lay on his back, grinning at the dark sky. He sat up for a second to take off his tank before lying back down and swearing sharply at the cold. Adam crawled towards the Greywaren and lay his chest out on top of his, a thin layer of smooth, cold mud between them. Adam's elbows pressed into the ground on either side of Ronan's head.

Ronan had stopped grinning, but his eyes were lit like he still was. As Ronan looked at Adam's smiling face, half covered in mud, the crease between his brows softened and the corner of his lips quirked into a small smile.

"Had to give me the shitbox, huh?"

Ronan shrugged, their chests moving together, as a drop of mud from Adam's face fell onto Ronan's cheek. "You could have taken the black one."

Adam sighed and fell onto the mud beside Ronan, swearing at the cold. Tracing Ronan's arm down, Adam found his hand and held it loosely, closing his eyes as Ronan's fingers weaved through his.

"What time's your class tomorrow?"

Adam shrugged. "Early."

Ronan's thumb traced the lines of Adam's palm. Each stroke sent a rush of electricity up his arm.

"I could leave in the morning."

Fingers stilled for a moment before continuing. "Whatever, Parrish."

Adam opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Ronan, who looked back. He put a muddy palm on Ronan's cheek. "I'm going to leave in the morning."

Then he kissed him.

When Adam woke, the bed was empty except for a key ring on Ronan's pillow. There was no note. The clock told him he had a few hours before his first class, but he would have to leave in twenty minutes if he wanted to make it in time.

Adam dressed before padding down to the kitchen and looked out the window to see Opal running around the yard chasing a few of the sheep, cackling as she galloped after them. Ronan sat on the porch watching her, glancing over his shoulder as Adam pushed the door open and sat beside him.

"Are these the keys to the BMW?"

"It's faster than the Hondayota, and you're probably late already. Besides, you changed the mirrors and the seat the last time you drove it, and I'd rather dream up a new car than figure out how to fix them."

Adam snorted and held up the other key on the ring. "And this one?"

Ronan rolled his eyes, but Adam saw the nerves in the action, the heat trickling up Ronan's neck. "In case I'm out the next time you're back in town. That way I don't have to pick up the phone if you're coming over."

Adam hooked his arm around Ronan's neck and planted a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. Ronan scowled, but didn't protest any further when Adam moved to his mouth instead.

Ronan pressed his forehead to Adam's, hand bunching the fabric of his shirt at his abdomen. "If you're late for you class, do you automatically fail?"

Instead of answering, Adam pulled back, running a hand over Ronan's head, the short hairs prickling his palm. "I'll finish all of my assignments before I come over next time."

Ronan's smirk, the glint in his eye, made Adam swallow. His chest felt too small, like all of the warmth there was too big to be contained within his body. Ronan glanced away, pointing a sharp finger at the sheep. "Hey! What did I say about eating wool?"

Opal shrugged, removed her face from one of the sheep's coats, and continued her prancing around the now frightened herd of sheep. Adam laughed, accepted Ronan's hand and assistance to his feet, and let himself be kissed again. The BMV waited in the grass. Opal stopped her dancing to give Adam a somber goodbye, kissing both of his cheeks before retreating to Ronan's side and gripping his hand tightly.

Adam's chest constricted even more when he got into the car and shut the door. He knew he was going back to school, understood that what he was returning to was the key to his future—but that felt incomplete. The Barns was a timeless place made from love and magic, and here all time came full circle. It was Adam's future, present, past, and leaving it now felt like he was leaving something behind.

Adam started the car and a stack of brightly colored notebooks caught his attention in the passenger seat. A small note lay on top in Ronan's neat script: _Enim scolasticus_. _For the scholar._

Adam rolled down the window, unable to keep the grin off his face, even though his chest really felt like it was ripping at the seams. He kept one hand on the stack of notebooks to ground him, and the other hand wrapped around his torso, as if that could stop the impending explosion. It was pain and happiness and joy and sadness and longing and worship and desire and magic and love.

"I'm coming back next weekend. As soon as classes are over. Pick up your damn phone once in a while."

The look in Ronan's eyes was complicated, but he smiled, loose and genuine, the final spark that lit the brew of dangerous chemicals building inside Adam's chest.

"Don't be late, asshole."

Adam looked in the rear-view mirror the entire way out of the Barns. Time was circular. He was driving both towards and away from his future at the same time. One day, he knew, in the timeless loop that was the future, that he would drive towards this house with the knowledge that he was going in the right direction.


End file.
